Men's Fencing

Engineers Post 4-1 Record at NFC Competition

Junior Luke O'Malley

Jan 28, 2013

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The MIT men's fencing team compiled a 4-1 ledger in its final Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) competition held this past Saturday at Brown University. The Engineers fell to the host Bears (19-8), but defeated Boston College (16-11), Tufts University (22-5), Dartmouth College (15-12), and Vassar College (18-9). The epee team racked up a record of 38-7 on the day while the best individual performance came from freshman Nicholas Sledeski (Belle Mead, N.J.) who won 14 of his 15 bouts in sabre action.

Junior Joseph Rafidi (Los Angeles, Calif.) powered the epee unit with a 13-2 record while senior Jackson Crane (San Francisco, Calif.) had a total of 11-4. Freshman Jack Greenfield (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) defeated eight of his nine opponents as classmate Giulio Gueltrini (Ravenna, Italy) won all six of his outings. The Engineers swept Tufts and Vassar, overpowered Dartmouth (8-1) and Boston College (7-2), and edged out Brown (5-4).

Behind the strength of Sledeski's outstanding effort, the sabre squad finished at 22-23. MIT topped Boston College (6-3) while picking up 5-4 wins over Tufts and Vassar. Junior Luke O'Malley (Los Angeles, Calif.) registered a total of 6-9 while freshman Pon Jirachuphun (Chantaburi, Thailand) picked up two wins. Sophomore Dwayne George (Freeport, N.Y.) also saw some action but was unable to earn a victory in his three appearances.

Freshman Scott Robinson (Califon, N.J.) led the foil team with a 9-6 record as senior Alexander Siy came in at 7-8. Junior James Clark (Falls Church, Va.) posted two wins against Tufts while senior Chris Perera (Jacksonville, Fla.) defeated his foe from Vassar. MIT ended the day with a total of 19-26 as its only win, an 8-1 decision, came against Tufts.

Next up for MIT (9-6, 8-2 NFC) will be its final home competition of the season, the Eric Sollee Invitational, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 3.